Architects want a new competition over the new government quarter

Norwegian architects are asking the government to await further regulatory work on the new government quarter and they now propose a new contest.

 Statsbygg(The Public Construction) is scheduled to submit the urban design principles in a zoning plan for the new government quarter for consultation before summer,  the newspaper Aftenposten writes.

In a letter to the Municipal and Modernization, Minister Jan Tore Sanner , three architectural organizations give six clear recommendations for further work on the new government quarter. The most important point is the requirement that an open master plan competition is held for the urban design principles.

 The competition will reveal the  overall architectural steps made in the design of the government quarter and its historical roots, and identity, representation, spatial area and  connection to the rest of the city,  the letter stated.

– Architecture and urban development are about the needs you have and circumstances and other conditions that affect or are affected by them. When the needs and circumstances change, so do the actual project. So many of the original preconditions have already been changed, that we now need an evaluation of what have been decided,  president Alexandria Algard in Norwegian Architects National Federation says.

The letter was also sent to the Oslo City Council.

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today